THE MMA TEN: TITO WHERE YOU AT?

Before we hit up Don Abato and this week’s ten, a quick note to tell you that you can check out one of my favorite fighters on DVD– Ruthless Robbie Lawler. Image Entertainment presents the DVD release of Elite XC: Uprising. Watch Murilo “Ninja” Rua and “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler as they battle for the world middleweight title. It’s a 2-disc set that also features Nick Diaz, Smokin’ Joe Villasenor and Gina Carrano. Check it out. To the ten…

10. Still Waiting: Hey Tito when are you going to officially announce that blockbuster deal with Affliction? Wait a minute, are you negotiating with the UFC again? Knowing his diplomatic prowess, wanna bet he negotiates himself outta ever signing with anyone ever again?

9. Also Waiting: Rampage Jackson’s arraignment has been postponed. Investigators are looking at some new evidence. Meantime there’s talk of a possible November match between Quinton and his old nemesis Wanderlei Silva. Talk about heap of problems. Obviously there’s the legal stuff, then for some unsaid reason he split with trainer Juanito Ibarra, and now Dana wants to match Rampage, who may or may not have had a bout of delusion, against the man who thoroughly thrashed and humbled him. Boy, Dana isn’t doing ‘Page any favors is he?

8. Really Waiting: UFC All-Access host Rachelle Leah is going to pose for Playboy. She’s kinda been MIA, almost forgot how fine she is. Yeah right! I’ve been saying I wanna see more of Rachelle lately, and now I’m gonna get it. Hi-five to you Hef!

7. Matt Snooze: Hey Matt Hughes, your attempts to discredit Georges St. Pierre since he thrashed you bore me. There are sore losers and cry-babies, both define the bitter ex-champion. Hey Baby Matt, go take a timeout or a nap or else Georges will have to spank you, again.

6. Nike Gets a Slice: Kimbo and All-Universe running back LaDainian Tomlinson do a commercial together for the popular athletic brand. Nike did us a favor by having Kimbo hang with a REAL star who so good he creates more hype, as opposed to being overhyped and an EXPOSED internet phenomenom. Here’s to dreaming some of LT’s “it-ness” rubbed off.

5. Problems of Being Exposed: EliteXC is having trouble finding Kimbo a worthy opponent for the next CBS broadcast. And by “worthy” I mean someone carrying major hype but likely won’t win. Ken Shamrock is said to be an option and so is rising name Brett Rogers. But Rogers may be too good. Sports Illustrated suggests Kimbo rematch Sean Gannon, the Boston cop who defeated the street fighting deity in a widely hyped but snoozer of a scrap. These are the kinds of problems you get for stupid marketing decisions. But there are bigger more pressing problems the minds behind EliteXC have to deal with it. That story in a bit, but first….

4. Bud Ice: I can’t say I drink a lot of that partcular brew, but I can say Bud Light’s two newest spokesmen are Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and Anderson “Spider” Silva. It’s great to see Anheuser-Busch get behind MMA, and even better to see the sponsor get behind fighters instead of promotions. Still, the disparity between what superstars and the low-tier guys is too great. At least the bottom guys in the other pro sports make six figures. $5G + $5G and maybe a fight bonus isn’t going to cut it.

3. Olympic Dreams: Read some thoughts about MMA as a future Olympic sport. Never mind that they already tried to get Pankration in the 2004 Athens games, but right now there are too many deterring factors. Short list: practicing athletes in only handful of countries, fitting a full-contact tournament into 2 weeks, ensuring fighters are healthy despite limited recovery time. Big one that nobody talks about: uphill political battle to convince Olympic committee.

2. All Rosey in Chicago: The Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its Chicago debut October 25 at the Allstate Arena in suburban Rosemont. The fight is still two and a half months away but 80% of tickets were purchased just hours after they went on sale. Among tickets still available are those floor seats, which for some of you cost more than your entire paycheck. Hey, skipping food for a month may be worth it.

1. Elite X-cused: ProElite is canceling shows left and right. Is the company following the IFL’s lead out the MMA door? Doesn’t look good. But let’s reserve judgement for the the third CBS broadcasted EliteXC. There’s a lot riding on that show. Not just for ProElite, but for MMA also. Failure on network television will be like slamming the brakes on the momentum the sport built this year. Remember, you have the popularity of UFC and the popularity of the sport. They’re not the same thing in case you didn’t know.

Posted by admin on Friday, August 22, 2008 at 1:30 pm Filed under MMA Ten · Tagged with